dedicated to simplifying my consumption and accumulation of stuff (especially clothes), one step at a time, starting today 6-1-11 for one year. Ok, 2 years. Well, now we're going into Y3. Make that 4. - so who's counting anyway?

Friday, December 23, 2011

Continuing my year-end challenge, I certainly exhausted myself with this one. A sheer blouse with attached sheer lining rehab. No wonder it lay by the side of the road for so long. It turned out wearable, but I'll win no prizes for it, let me tell ya. Yikes, the sewing is Frankenstein-ian, although you can't fault me for trying...and trying...and trying....

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Maybe...or at least a goal: to tackle all those sewing Minima Projects I've started in the last 6 months but never quite finished.

Well, completed one of them today. Yea, put a check on that list! I think this was one of the first rehabs I attempted using several white cotton blouses to create a garment that works. Sew, look and see the results.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Spent a day changing an old beach cover-up into a tunic top. A white embroidered cotton fabric thingy. I removed the collar, cuffs, pockets, belt loops, buttons and side slits. Added pale dove gray embroidered cotton side inserts and trim at the sleeve edges. Made the collar Mandarin and the buttons gray. Assorted challenges came and went.

Put together an ensemble around which to wear it today. Then noticed everything I had on was made/ refashioned by me in the last 6 months: vest, tunic, necklace, skirt, pantaloons and boots. la-de-dah! And I have the pix to prove it.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Pantaloons. Made them from my Mom's old kitchen curtains. I was gonna just make a half slip out of them, but thought, no...they look more like bloomers or pantaloons waiting-to-be. Since I've already sewn some fancy-smancy bloomers, pantaloons won out. What's the difference you might ask? In my mind, the latter are longer, plainer, without elastic or gathering at the leg and made of white cotton. And that's just how my pantaloonsfrom mama's curtains came out!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

I really think so. I received I Am Cute Dressesby Sato Watanabe as a gift not too long ago. It was one of the only Japanese dress pattern books translated into English. While many other sewists say you can figure it out by the diagrams - I don't know yet...that along with the metric system and grading the patterns larger may be out of my league. Anyway, I am just L-U-V-ing the Japanese aesthetic featured in all these sewing books.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

"You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em..." I kept hearing that phrase humming in my ears as I was wrestling with this piece. And believe me, I was ready to do both on any given day. I guess the latest is holding on.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Found a boring old linen-esque, wine-colored jacket with a matching long skirt in my closet the other day and thought, what's to lose? Well...it didn't fit anyway.

So first I worked with the skirt. It had a waistband, a zipper in the back and a kick slit on one side. hmm. I seam-ripped both side seams thinking I'd add inserts. Found some fabric scrap that was similar in texture but a little silkier to the touch and a shade off from wine, maybe burgundy? The piece already had really nice frayed edges so I decided to use them, I mean, why not? It was a bit wider than I was planning on, but wotheheck.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Long underwear time. But the sheer black silk kind. And mine had a few teeny, tiny holes in the top. So I cut out some small rosettes from a scrap of black lace I had on hand, and fabric glued them in place.

Note to self: next time hand sew them on since the glue makes it a little stiff on such fine fabric.

But it still worked as the largest florette was only the size of a nickel...

Sunday, December 4, 2011

And now...the golden ruffled tunicre-fit. Had to cut off the long sleeves to use the fabric for side inserts and bottom ruffle extension. I was originally going to just use another fabric, but nothing seemed to click with it. Turned out one of the sleeves had a water stain and I had to work around that too. As it was, I had barely enough to make do, using seam binding for a hem and also to attach the ruffle to the tunic.

I just love those buttons. They're really substantial, so I added more interfacing under the facing and resewed the buttons on with anchor buttons behind them. I'm still not sure about the short sleeves though...maybe I'll do something else with it down the line. Meanwhile I have worn it layered over a black silk long underware top and paired with those gaucho pants I re-modeled recently...